SOMETIMES it looks as if no major public project in Scotland ever finishes on time or within budget.
Arguments rumble on about quite how the cost of the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood spiralled out of control. The Edinburgh trams project seems to have turned into a never-ending saga.
By comparison a delay of a couple of months in completing the massive Hydro on the banks of the Clyde may look like a minor hitch. However, with thousands of tickets already sold for major acts booked to perform there in October and November this year, any delay is likely to have serious consequences.
As The Herald reports today, the project is running several millions over budget and has been hit by legal wrangling between the main contractor Lend Lease and the client, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC). The delay appears to have been caused by problems with the design specification, particularly the domed roof, which has a span of 120 metres. Lend Lease is now talking of a possible delay until the end of November.
That would cost SECC millions in contractual payments and refunds to those who have already bought tickets for acts including Fleetwood Mac the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
SECC chief executive John Sharkey hopes that by offering Lend Lease £3m "escalation costs", work on the huge structure can be accelerated so that the building is completed for the planned opening on September 30. The company had been hoping to announce in the near future that Rod Stewart would front the opening concert.
If Lend Lease was encountering technical problems serious enough to delay completion, did it come clean about this before many thousands of tickets had been sold for acts this autumn?
Meanwhile, why should SECC be offering what amounts to a £3m bonus to Lend Lease for simply finishing the project on the original completion date? After all, Mr Sharkey and his board have been paid handsome salaries and large bonuses over the years to ensure the smooth running of the SECC and associated venues.
A recent review by Deloitte found Mr Sharkey earned £85,000 in bonuses on top of his basic salary of £190,000 in 2011. Glasgow City Council, which owns 90% of SECC and which was forced to bail out the Hydro to the tune of £40m after a private partner pulled out of the venture, has demanded that the top-tier salaries are pegged back. That move might seem overdue.
The SECC seems to be painted into a corner. If its offer to pay an additional £3m is declined, it might lose even more in refunds and reputational damage.
Glasgow needs this venue, which will host the netball and gymnastics events during the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At present Scotland's largest indoor events space, Hall 4 at the SECC, is also used for exhibitions and 70 days a year are lost in reconfiguring the required seating. The Hydro's futuristic design by Foster and Partners has generated great excitement. What a pity this big baby is having such a difficult birth.
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